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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE/ 



currents of water and air consequent upon drainage, is 

 actually damper in hot dry summer weather than land 

 which has not been made thus porous. Under-drain- 

 ing land not only dries, warms, and enriches it in wet 

 weather, but also moistens it in time of drought. 



The sun's rays heating the surface of the earth pro- 

 duce an upward current of air through the soil, just as 

 certainly as the blazing chandelier of a theatre, rari- 

 fying the air in the roof, causes a current to ascend to 

 it from the building below. Each crack or w'orm-hole 

 in the ground acts as a chimney, only that the ascending 

 " draught" is occasioned by a fire above instead of 

 beneath. But air is also drawn upward in another 

 way : the evaporation of moisture at the surface, and 

 the absorption of it by the roots of a gi'owing crop, suck 

 up water from below by capillary attraction ; and air 

 follows the successive drops and tricklets of water up 

 through tlie pores and tubes between the i)articles of 

 earth. A sufficient number of clear open uuder-drains 

 thus provides a free circulation of air ; and this will not 

 only rise through the soil immediately above the 

 drains, but will spread out on either side, as the 

 upward current is produced at every point of the 

 surface, and so draws the air from the drains laterally 

 as well as vertically. Well, but will not tliis admission 

 of warm summer air into the soil tend rather to dry it 

 still further than to moisten it ? No : atmospheric 

 air always contains some invisible watery vapour, which 

 will be condensed upon a body colder than the air 

 itself. The surface of a tumbler of cold water is 

 covered with dampness on a dry hot day, owing to this 

 condensation. Now, as the soil (excepting just at the 

 suriace) is always colder than the air on a warm day. 



the air passing into the drains and up through the soil 

 gives up its watery vapour to the cooler soil in the 

 same way that it does to the cold glass. And so 

 important is this aerial conveyance of moisture to sup- 

 ply crops during a drought, that a system of air- 

 drainage, or the laying-down of hollow drains in such 

 a manner as to facilitate the introduction of air along 

 their entire course, has been advocated and largely 

 carried into execution by practical men. 



Besides this actual subterranean watering of the 

 ground by the agency of warm humid air, of course 

 there are other advantages found in dry weather 

 from a well-drained soil. The ameliorated condition of 

 the ground for several feet in depth renders it more 

 absorbent and retentive of moisture dropped by dews 

 and acquired from the atmosphere. And again : as the 

 roots of plants peneti'ate much deeper and spread wider 

 in a deeper-drained than in an imperfectly-drained 

 soil, they are as it were out of the reach of drought, and 

 from their greater extent obtain a larger amount of 

 moisture and nutriment : so that in consequence of 

 good drainage, our crops are in many ways supported 

 and preserved through "dry times," and frequent 

 recurrences of" hot Wednesdays." Let the undrained, 

 shallow-ploughing farmer watch with apprehension his 

 barkward mangolds, his scorching peas, and dried-up 

 wheat ; but those of us who have obtained a deeper 

 acquaintance with the soil, and buiTowed more pro- 

 foundly into the resources of our planet, may welcome 

 a fervid sun without dismay, and smile at the com- 

 plaint of our thirsty neighbours who have neglected to 

 make a cistern of their soil and a spring of the 

 atmosphere. 



THE FARMER'S LIFE AND DUTIES. 



Thejoys of a rural life have been sung by the poets 

 of all ages. It has been as favoured and inexhanstible 

 a theme as love, war, or wine. That this should be so 

 is easily understood. One can well picture the Muses' 

 child delighting to dream his days away in the leafy 

 solitude and sweet contemplation of the country. But 

 it is not the poet alone who finds attractions here. 

 There is scarcely a man amongst us that does not set 

 his heart remote from the cities for the scene of his 

 chief pleasures. From the busy statesman to the plod- 

 ding citizen the feeling is alike the same. While the 

 one counts on the few weeks he may have at his an- 

 cestral seat, amongst his horses and his hounds, the 

 other boasts of the strawberries he grows in his garden 

 and the appetite he has for his breakfast. In short, 

 men endure the town and enjoy the country. 



How happy then must be his lot, whose very business 

 requires of him a country life; who snatches not 

 merely a few hours or days of iresh air, but passes one 

 whole round of such uninterrupted enjoyment ! He 

 it is we celebi'ate in song. For his glory did Virgil 

 turn the economy of farming into hexameter verse. 

 Dedicated, as it were, to him especially, did Thomson 



mark the varying seasons. With such a one, as the 

 central figure in his sketches, did Blomfield live over 

 again the life he had left. If, amongst the many who 

 toil on in the sweat of their brow, there be a happy 

 man, it is the tiller of the soil. All history goes to 

 assure us of this. And if, indeed, we want any further 

 confirmation of our felicity, we ourselves may offer 

 it. 



Amongst the few local farmers' clubs that still really 

 continue in actual existence, that at Reading holds a 

 prominent position. It is especially commendable for 

 the good tone and ability with which its discussion 

 meetings are conducted. Although not, perhaps, mus- 

 tering as many as it should, there are always some ear- 

 nest practical men present, to keep the thing going, and 

 to extract a profitable deduction from the subject con- 

 sidered. We confess to have watched the operations of 

 this Society for some time past, and in doing so have 

 noticed how generally well the various topics for debate 

 have been selected. It must, of course, necessarily 

 happen that many of these have not come altogether 

 new to us. What with the gradually lengthening tale 

 of the London club, and the occasional outbreak of 



